jazzyrider-- I never meant to accuse you of kicking her or really pushing her past any thresholds. Sorry if it sounded like I was accusing you, that was not my intention at all. From your posts it is very obvious that you love her A LOT. Anyway, I hope things work out for you.

its ok :) I just wanted to clarify it as I don't want people to get the impression that I would do that :) no one really knows me here yet. That's all. All good :) I will keep you posted

Flying b - you do make a good point. There are so many angles this could be taken from. What you said is the exact reason why I never let her NOT do the jump. I figure if I let her get away with it in the beginning, she will think she can do it all the time.

When I started actually jumping Freckles I would have the same problem. He was fine with trot poles on the ground, go straight over them forward and not zig zaggy. When I started jumping him I had just one jump and he was fine. It was when I started putting more poles and jumps in a row. Let me explain

I have a trot pole, distance, trot pole, about 6m and then a 20cm jump (that's when I first started). He would go straight over the 2 trot poles when we were trotting, then zig zag up to the jump. I went back and I made him walk over all the poles and jump, never let him trot. When he was able to walk from the poles and over the jump without any zig zagging, we progressed to trotting. I haven't cantered him over any jumps yet, but he is easily now doing one trot pole, distance, 20cm jump, 6m, 60cm jump. It just take a bit of time a patience.

When I started actually jumping Freckles I would have the same problem. He was fine with trot poles on the ground, go straight over them forward and not zig zaggy. When I started jumping him I had just one jump and he was fine. It was when I started putting more poles and jumps in a row. Let me explain

I have a trot pole, distance, trot pole, about 6m and then a 20cm jump (that's when I first started). He would go straight over the 2 trot poles when we were trotting, then zig zag up to the jump. I went back and I made him walk over all the poles and jump, never let him trot. When he was able to walk from the poles and over the jump without any zig zagging, we progressed to trotting. I haven't cantered him over any jumps yet, but he is easily now doing one trot pole, distance, 20cm jump, 6m, 60cm jump. It just take a bit of time a patience.

ah yes, patience :) fortunately, I have plenty of that.

We went for a ride through some forest today and I decided to go for
A canter up a track. I got to the top, turned her left and there was a big log down over the track. I swear that wasnt there last time I went up there there was no way around it so I urged her on and she cleared it. And then she stopped!!! :) I was fully prepared for her to bolt lol it was only about 1" high but I was pretty excited so I tried finding more places that had some natural jumps and maybe a few close together. She was pretty excited by this point and in the mood for a run so I thought doing some jumps where she is feeling happy and comfortable might help build her confidence.

She jumped everything!!!! She clipped her back nearside hoof once but other than that she did really well. When we got back, I took her straight over my jumps and she did fine. I did them about a dozen times and she didnt zig zag once :)

Hopefully next time I try she remembers today. If not, we can always go forest jumping again until she builds up enough confidence to do them happily all the time :)

We have come a long way in the last week. We are happily doing the same jumps we were having probs with without zig zagging of any kind :)

We have also had a fair bit of rain the last few days and some rather natural water jumps are popping up all over the place :) there is a little stream only about 3" deep that runs the length of the property. Its normally dry but when it rains, it fills up. Normally we can't go over that side of the property when it rains cause there is no way she would jump it lol but yesterday I thought I would try it just once and she what she would do. She jumped it :) its about a foot and a half wide and she jumped it no probs. I did video it all but it goes for half an hour and I don't know how to edit and take the boring bits out. Might try a shorter video next time. That is if my hubby will hold the camera rather than turning it on and leaving it sitting on a log hoping that it will get everything :)

Basically anything you put in front of her she will jump now. I havent jumped anything higher than about 30cm but she seems to be loving it now. So am I :) I think she might turn out to be a reasonable jumper but only time will tell. Right now she is keen to jump anything you put in front of her. I've kept them all small but she is clearing them all well. Another couple of weeks and I will start slowly but surely lifting the height.

I'm glad to hear she's enjoying jumping! Maybe she dreamt she was in a jumping competition and loved the feeling of jumping... who knows, but you must be proud of her!

i am very proud of her :) she seems to learn pretty quickly which is good. I think she has associated jumping with having more fun than doing circles and flying changes hehehehe she does enjoy a run!

We are going to have a go at stockmans polo on the weekend which should be fun. Apparently its the same as cowboy polo only australianised :P should be good for her to do more new things than just the same stuff she has been doing all her life.

Hey!! Jumping comes down to your flatwork... you probally already know that... but anyways. Just a question, does she come off your leg? Example side pass? Becoming more resonsive could help. To start off does she walk over the pole? Just start with one, then gradually make it, two three, four up to six.

Although looking in the future, I don't think you will have a successful jumper. A Showjumper takes confidance, and passion. Not many horses have that... Stick to the Dressage !!

Hey!! Jumping comes down to your flatwork... you probally already know that... but anyways. Just a question, does she come off your leg? Example side pass? Becoming more resonsive could help. To start off does she walk over the pole? Just start with one, then gradually make it, two three, four up to six.

Although looking in the future, I don't think you will have a successful jumper. A Showjumper takes confidance, and passion. Not many horses have that... Stick to the dressage !!

i appreciate your opinion and any competition jumping will be kept small. However, as the update says, she is starting to do very well and the initial confidence issues already seem to be a thing of the past. The probs we had when I first posted are now gone. You can't expect a horse doing something it has never done before to be confident straight away.

I've done a lot of jumping myself and wont be happy to "stick to dressage". I don't plan on doing massive jumping on her as I am going to be buying a horse specifically for that but I have every confidence that she will do well in local comps for some fun. But as also said, that is a ways off (horse flu ban could last anywhere up to another 6 months the DPI says).

But, as my main aim with her is dressage, we will be fine. Teaching her to jump was for enjoyment and if she is happy jumping only a foot or a little more, then we will do that. Im afraid as much as I love competing etc I have no desire at the moment to compete for a little while anyways. I jump for fun and laughs with her :)

And yes, I know jumping and flatwork go hand in hand. Doesnt mean having a jump can't be more fun especially when both horse and rider are having a blast :)

:o I didn't mean it. I read over mi post again, and it doen't compair to what I think... sorry for that misunderstanding! Yeh have fun, that's what ridings all about. Although what I was trying to say is that some horses are better at things than others. And by meaning that I meant stick with the dressage cause you will probally find more success in it! But by all means, go for it! Sorry I missed, the post about her improving.... sorry about that. She sounds nice, and yes that darn HORSE FLU, is dredful! It hasn't effected WA yet, but its in SA, so more than likely we will get it here sooner or later! Stupid over seas horses coming to Australia! Lol

:o I didn't mean it. I read over mi post again, and it doen't compair to what I think... sorry for that misunderstanding! Yeh have fun, that's what ridings all about. Although what I was trying to say is that some horses are better at things than others. And by meaning that I meant stick with the dressage cause you will probally find more success in it! But by all means, go for it! Sorry I missed, the post about her improving.... sorry about that. She sounds nice, and yes that darn HORSE FLU, is dredful! It hasn't effected WA yet, but its in SA, so more than likely we will get it here sooner or later! Stupid over seas horses coming to Australia! Lol

lol its ok :) I knew were you were coming from I just feel that cause she is only learning, I need more time before I see how she will be in the long run.

I have a couple of pics im going to add. They arent the best as I had to extract them from a video but I got some showing us doing a STRAIGHT line to the jump lol there are a couple showing how relaxed she is getting and us warming up and relaxing before. In the beginning, I couldnt even get her head down much but that's not an issue anymore :) they arent the most interesting pictures I guess but they show improvement to me so its a big deal for me :) as I said, excuse the quality. Im hoping to get my hubby to take some better pics next time :) I know its not in the critique section but feel free to make any comments if you want :)

So that's us :) nothing overly special yet but we are getting there.

And yes, my main focus will be dressage anyways :) we do that well most days lol except for her 'mare' days hehehehe

P.s. I forgot to say, yes she is still a little underweight and before anyone says anything she is only getting light workouts at the moment. We don't usually ride for any longer than half an hour and I keep the work level simple at the moment :)

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